I recently got a call from my father about a Herman Miller drafting table he found in New Orleans. It's a mahogany and steel table from the mid 20th century, and in very good condition. He has been collecting 18th and 19th century American antiques for a while and is quite an expect on them. The value and quality of modern furniture is a bit foreign to him though, so he wanted to know what a table like this would be worth. I did a search on the internet for some info on Herman Miller drafting tables, but couldn't find anything. The Herman Miller web site just suggests finding an appraiser in your local area.
I was hoping someone on the forum would have some knowledge of vintage Miller furniture. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
George Nelson designed the Action office series, and examples of the drafting table from the series can be found on eBay from time to time. Is this the same table? Unless it's in perfect shape, I personally think anything over $1000 is too much. You don't see many of these, though.
Oh, and if anyone is interested, I'm auctioning lots of my mid-century furniture (Eames/Herman Miller/Knoll/McCobb) on eBay before I move. Go to the advanced search menu and search under my seller name: "design-director".
*gasp* I want it all, square!!! your bentwood thonet chair matches mine (but mine is upholstered in turquoise).
I want the thonet tables and a fiberglass chair, but alas, you live so far (shipping is too expensive), I am broke and certainly shouldn't be buying any furniture :(
square, you must be heart broken :( I am getting rid of a lot of stuff too in order to move, and though I don't have cool stuff like you, it's tough. you're moving to Detroit right? from where?
hmmm...I wonder how difficult and how much they'd be to ship....
I just love mid century furniture. looking at the details on that desk, it's beautiful! I love the pulls...
The subtle curves of the thonet and HM chairs are amazing. If I ever get settled one day, I hope to start collecting.
squarespared- that's the exact table my father found. he's good friends with that auction house. i was thinking over $1000 would be too much as well. the picture posted on the site didn't impress me very much, but he seemed pretty excited about it on the phone, so i'm guessing it's in excellent shape.
thanks for posting your auctions. i'm moving soon as well and need to deal with figuring out what furniture to keep and which to sell. good luck with your auctions.
i picked up a couple of these for about eighty bucks at the midland antique mall. they need to be cleaned up and need a little work. they have gum under the seat that i have had carbon dated to 1963...
reasons i wouldn't buy that drafting table for using or display/collecting activities;*
1- it is made for whole different era using different tools to produce drawings. i don't want to repeat here the percentage of architectural drawings produced by different tools that doesn't necessiate the herman miller drafting table.
2- way heavy for something because of that you'll be dragging around and finally become a burden.
3- it is like little bit a dad's version of, on what kind of a table architects produce work and he has some catching up to do.
4- unless i could pitch it to a herman miller freak, whose is dying to get this at all costs. like ... middleman, aka wheeler dealer.
5- there are certain things you can't improve upon architectural production tools and in my experience they include; x-acto blade, various pens and pencils, paper, history and theory books and...drum roll here... saw horses or supporting file cabs, and a door or four.
5a- and whaat, 48" wide? what, it is for writing postcards?
6- fundamentally it does look like it is for engineers more than architects.
7- not saying it is worthless but 1000 bucks?
but, i am still not sure if you are asking collecting everything miller question or an e-bay question? either way though those are issues propped in my mind when i looked at the picture.
hahaha orhan, love the disclaimer. Yeah, I wouldn't buy it either because it looks like a burden. I tend to gravitate to little tables and chairs as I seem to move a lot. I qualify furniture purchases by determining if they are:
1) foldable
2) easily break-downable (it's a term)
3) small enough to carry by myself
4) easy to sell/ donate
Right now, the only thing I own that doesn't fit those qualifications is my mattress (though I don't have a box spring).
squaresquared, nice collection. I too like the Thonet tables. I'm a long way from Massachusetts though. I have a set of Thonet dining chairs (plywood, with a hand cut out in the backrest, look like Eames DCWs). I lurve 20th Century furniture.
I think my drafting table and Mutoh drawing machine (anyone remember those????!!) would be very difficult to part with (even though they now gather dust on another continent). For some reason, I identify these outdated (though still very functional) items of equipment with my very professional being. Have drafting machine, am architect.
Where have all the drawing boards gone in arch school studios? In architect's offices? We don't have a single one in our office. TV ads and pop culture would demand a cool design character be elegantly draped over a drafting board. No CAD stations being romanticised...yet.
I miss drafting. Really. I was so good at it. I managed to get my second and third jobs as a draftsman at two of the few architecture firms left in San Francisco (or maybe on the planet?) that still did hand drawing. I've been back to visit one of them, and they've joined the 21st century.
Drawing and technical drafting still equals visual thinking to me. I wonder sometimes if digitally produced architecture is carefully considered/thought through... That's another rant.
You could write (several) books about digital vs hand drawn drafting methods.
I've read a really interesting book by Malcolm McCullough called "Abstracting Craft"...all about how our hands and minds have moved from analoque (manual) techniques to digital media (CAD). We stopped looking at what our hands were doing, coordinating hand and eye when we hand draw and make models, to completely separating them between mouse and computer screen. That has to have a huge impact on the way we design.
I consider myself lucky...being able to do both hand and CAD drafting. We don't DRAW enough....
A Question About Herman Miller Tables
I recently got a call from my father about a Herman Miller drafting table he found in New Orleans. It's a mahogany and steel table from the mid 20th century, and in very good condition. He has been collecting 18th and 19th century American antiques for a while and is quite an expect on them. The value and quality of modern furniture is a bit foreign to him though, so he wanted to know what a table like this would be worth. I did a search on the internet for some info on Herman Miller drafting tables, but couldn't find anything. The Herman Miller web site just suggests finding an appraiser in your local area.
I was hoping someone on the forum would have some knowledge of vintage Miller furniture. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
What about a digital foto, do you have that, id so maybe the quality would make some replies.
George Nelson designed the Action office series, and examples of the drafting table from the series can be found on eBay from time to time. Is this the same table? Unless it's in perfect shape, I personally think anything over $1000 is too much. You don't see many of these, though.
Oh, and if anyone is interested, I'm auctioning lots of my mid-century furniture (Eames/Herman Miller/Knoll/McCobb) on eBay before I move. Go to the advanced search menu and search under my seller name: "design-director".
Here's a link to my auctions.
*gasp* I want it all, square!!! your bentwood thonet chair matches mine (but mine is upholstered in turquoise).
I want the thonet tables and a fiberglass chair, but alas, you live so far (shipping is too expensive), I am broke and certainly shouldn't be buying any furniture :(
I'm sad to let it all go, but I have to. If the Thonet tables don't sell, WTD, I'll let you know. Maybe they'll magically appear at your doorstep.
square, you must be heart broken :( I am getting rid of a lot of stuff too in order to move, and though I don't have cool stuff like you, it's tough. you're moving to Detroit right? from where?
hmmm...I wonder how difficult and how much they'd be to ship....
I just love mid century furniture. looking at the details on that desk, it's beautiful! I love the pulls...
The subtle curves of the thonet and HM chairs are amazing. If I ever get settled one day, I hope to start collecting.
squarespared- that's the exact table my father found. he's good friends with that auction house. i was thinking over $1000 would be too much as well. the picture posted on the site didn't impress me very much, but he seemed pretty excited about it on the phone, so i'm guessing it's in excellent shape.
thanks for posting your auctions. i'm moving soon as well and need to deal with figuring out what furniture to keep and which to sell. good luck with your auctions.
i picked up a couple of these for about eighty bucks at the midland antique mall. they need to be cleaned up and need a little work. they have gum under the seat that i have had carbon dated to 1963...
one in orange and one in lemon.
reasons i wouldn't buy that drafting table for using or display/collecting activities;*
1- it is made for whole different era using different tools to produce drawings. i don't want to repeat here the percentage of architectural drawings produced by different tools that doesn't necessiate the herman miller drafting table.
2- way heavy for something because of that you'll be dragging around and finally become a burden.
3- it is like little bit a dad's version of, on what kind of a table architects produce work and he has some catching up to do.
4- unless i could pitch it to a herman miller freak, whose is dying to get this at all costs. like ... middleman, aka wheeler dealer.
5- there are certain things you can't improve upon architectural production tools and in my experience they include; x-acto blade, various pens and pencils, paper, history and theory books and...drum roll here... saw horses or supporting file cabs, and a door or four.
5a- and whaat, 48" wide? what, it is for writing postcards?
6- fundamentally it does look like it is for engineers more than architects.
7- not saying it is worthless but 1000 bucks?
but, i am still not sure if you are asking collecting everything miller question or an e-bay question? either way though those are issues propped in my mind when i looked at the picture.
*for entertainment only...
hahaha orhan, love the disclaimer. Yeah, I wouldn't buy it either because it looks like a burden. I tend to gravitate to little tables and chairs as I seem to move a lot. I qualify furniture purchases by determining if they are:
1) foldable
2) easily break-downable (it's a term)
3) small enough to carry by myself
4) easy to sell/ donate
Right now, the only thing I own that doesn't fit those qualifications is my mattress (though I don't have a box spring).
this one is really business growth oriented. i'd buy this.
squaresquared, nice collection. I too like the Thonet tables. I'm a long way from Massachusetts though. I have a set of Thonet dining chairs (plywood, with a hand cut out in the backrest, look like Eames DCWs). I lurve 20th Century furniture.
I think my drafting table and Mutoh drawing machine (anyone remember those????!!) would be very difficult to part with (even though they now gather dust on another continent). For some reason, I identify these outdated (though still very functional) items of equipment with my very professional being. Have drafting machine, am architect.
Where have all the drawing boards gone in arch school studios? In architect's offices? We don't have a single one in our office. TV ads and pop culture would demand a cool design character be elegantly draped over a drafting board. No CAD stations being romanticised...yet.
Romanticized Drafting:
I miss drafting. Really. I was so good at it. I managed to get my second and third jobs as a draftsman at two of the few architecture firms left in San Francisco (or maybe on the planet?) that still did hand drawing. I've been back to visit one of them, and they've joined the 21st century.
AutoCAD, you're such a soulless beast.
Drawing and technical drafting still equals visual thinking to me. I wonder sometimes if digitally produced architecture is carefully considered/thought through... That's another rant.
You could write (several) books about digital vs hand drawn drafting methods.
I've read a really interesting book by Malcolm McCullough called "Abstracting Craft"...all about how our hands and minds have moved from analoque (manual) techniques to digital media (CAD). We stopped looking at what our hands were doing, coordinating hand and eye when we hand draw and make models, to completely separating them between mouse and computer screen. That has to have a huge impact on the way we design.
I consider myself lucky...being able to do both hand and CAD drafting. We don't DRAW enough....
Looks like that desk went for a little more than $1000.
Apparently it's rarer than it seems.
Herman Miller is my favorite designer, i cant afford the real ones where is a good place to get the knock offs
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